"When there is a hole in the centre of the top of the hive, a trough
may be used, made of tin or zinc, seven or eight inches square, and
one inch and a quarter deep; having a circular two-inch hole in the
middle of the bottom, with a rim round it, standing up half an inch,
through which the bees enter the pan from below. Another circular
rim or partition, as large in diameter as the square of the pan will
admit, is soldered down within it at the four points where it touches
the sides. It must not go down to the bottom, but a space should there
be left of nearly an eighth of an inch, as a passage for the food,
which is poured in at the four angles. A perforated thin wooden bottom
or float is fitted loosely into the pan, between the circles, removing
an objection sometimes made against the chilling effects of metal upon
bees. The float should be a little raised by means of two thin strips
of wood, appended below, to allow the liquid to flow beneath. A cover
is made by a piece of glass, resting on the larger circle, but cut
nearly octagonal in form, so as to leave the corners open. The circle
on which the glass rests should be an eighth of an inch lower than the
outer rim."
Ingenious bee-masters, who estimate the excellence of their treatment by
its tortuous ingenuity, are sure to deride every such homely and easy
treatment. But you must disregard their learned and, as they phrase it,
scientific talk. In fact, the sulphur-and-match treatment is scarcely
worse than the protracted torture of apiarian inquisitors, inflicted
on bees by means of their ingenious hives. Experimental investigations
are, of course, legitimate. But keeping up queer and twisted and zigzag
bee-houses, as monuments of their talent and nothing else, is nothing less
than vivisection of bees.
Should the weather prove fine, and the stock hive, as inspected by the
glass window, show the honey-comb reaching downward to the floor, place a
super on the top. A glass is by far the most elegant, and, of the shape
recommended by Taylor, it is the most useful. It is about ten inches
wide, six inches high, and straight on the sides, with or without a zinc
circular perforated tube.
[Illustration]
But it is essential to cover it with a fitting woollen nightcap, the
neglect of which is the cause of the unpopularity of bee-glasses.
No additional room ought to be given after the middle of July, even in
heath counties; but that supplied in the beginning of June, or toward the
end of May, should be large. This is the safe side to err on. Either one
good large glass, or, what is less useful, two or three middle-sized,
should be used.
In the case of the Ayrshire hive, the rabbet-slides should be drawn out
from the top of the bottom box, the super box being previously placed on
the top.
During June and July frequently visit your bees. Stand in front of the
bee-shed. Study them through your observatory windows. They are too
busy to be annoyed. They love company. They are essentially social and
friendly, and fond of visitors. Their music will charm your ear, and their
industry delight your eye; and their wonderful work will give you many an
illustration for sermon, essay, or speech.
The longest summer ends in autumn. The honey harvest comes on.
Pass your zinc plate under the full glass. Detach it, and lift it off
the stock hive, of which close up the hole, or place on it a very small
bell-glass, just sufficient to cover the aperture, not forgetting the
nightcap. Take your glass to a little distance, let it rest for half an
hour, then edge up one side, and the bees will rush home to their hive in
the bee-shed. Cover the bottom of the glass, when the bees have left, with
parchment or thick writing-paper.